With a specialty in native plant materials and conservation landscaping, Leslie consults with public gardens, growing facilities, environmental non-profits, landscape operations, and engineers on horticultural and ecological projects. A Certified Professional Horticulturist through Maryland Nursery Landscape & Greenhouse Association (MNLGA), Leslie maintains additional ties to the green industry by serving on this group’s board, currently in the role of President. With the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council (CCLC), she has served on the board and held various officer roles. She also serves on CCLC’s Steering Committee for the Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional (CBLP) program, which she helped to develop, and is certified through their CBLP Level 2 advanced certification for design and installation. She is licensed as both a Nutrient Management Consultant and Pest Control Consultant through the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA). Having served as a LEAD Maryland Foundation Fellow, where she took part in extensive training in agricultural and natural resource leadership, and holding a degree in Environmental Science, Leslie offers an ecological perspective to the services she provides for gardening, landscaping, restoration, and conservation projects.
Experience:
• Providing technical assistance to landscape architects, engineers, and landscapers with
plant specifications, seed/plant sourcing, and planting oversight
• Providing technical assistance on plant sourcing and planting oversight for horticultural
collections and natural areas management
• Procuring plant material for project installations, horticultural collections, and retail plant sales
• Writing fact sheets, articles, and guides for the horticulture industry
• Writing proposals and managing funded grant projects
• Teaching professional and special-interest courses in conservation landscaping, gardening for wildlife, plant identification, and horticulture of native and wetland species
• Training diverse audiences such as industry professionals and the broader horticultural community in horticultural, botanical, and ecological topics
• Providing Nutrient Management Planning for nursery and greenhouse operations with container and in-ground production
• Providing technical assistance with seed propagation and nursery facilities
• Collection and processing seed for commercial production
• Producing 150+ species of local and regional ecotype native plants
• Direction of the nation’s oldest wetland plant nursery, quadrupling production and capacity
• Board Member (current President), Maryland Nursery and Landscape Assoc.
• Past Board Member and Officer, Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council
• Steering Committee Member, Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional Certification
• Appointed Member of Maryland’s Invasive Plant Advisory Committee
Qualifications:
• Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional – Level II Installation & Design
• MD Certified Professional Horticulturist, Specialist in Plant Identification
• MD Licensed Nutrient Management Consultant
• MD Licensed Pest Control Consultant
• LEAD Maryland Foundation Class VII Fellow